Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics and Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics leave the court after losing 103-84 during Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
To paraphrase the late Dennis Green, the Celtics are who some observers thought they were.
In the end, the Celts were a team that was far too reliant on the three-point shot to be championship caliber. They got away with a clang-fest (7-for-35 in threes) in their dramatic Game 6 win in Miami that was pulled out of the fire by a great Derrick White moment. But that’s all it was – a moment that just staved off elimination in Game 6 by a Miami Heat team that few people gave a chance against the more talented Celtics.
Max Strus #31 of the Miami Heat and Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics dives for a loose ball during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Robert Williams III #44 of the Boston Celtics whacks the ball out of Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat hands as Jaylen Brown #7 tries to rebound during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics steals the ball from Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat as Al Horford #42 looks on during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics screams out as Caleb Martin #16 of the Miami Heat walks off during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics after twisting his ankle during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jaylen Brown #7 and Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics try to stop Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Robert Williams of the Boston Celtics plays defense against Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat during Monday's Game 7 in Boston. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics gets tangled up with Max Strus #31 of the Miami Heat during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat and Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics get tangled up going for a loose ball during the second quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics celebrate during the second quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics falls to the floor during the second quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics, Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat and Caleb Martin #16 go after the ball during the second quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Donnie Wahlberg screams out during the second quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics and Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics leave the court after losing 103-84 during Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celticstalks with his son Deuce after losing 103-84 during Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Celtics guard Derrick White looks down during a 103-84 Game 7 loss against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Grant Williams #12 of the Boston Celtics fights for the ball with Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
The Boston Celtics starters sit on the bench as they lose 103-84 during Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden in Boston. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Al Horford #42 of the Boston Celtics rebounds against Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics tries to score above Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat as Jayson Tatum #0 looks on during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics scores during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics gets fouled by Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Jaylen Brown #7, Al Horford #42 and Derrick White #9 of the Boston Celtics gang up on Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Robert Kraft, far right applauds during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Miami's Caleb Martin drives past Celtics forward Jaylen Brown after faking him during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday in Boston. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is held back by Grant Williams as he argues with the referee during the second half of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
Fans wear big red boots while they watch the Boston Celtics during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at the TD Garden on Monday in Boston, MA. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald) May 29, 2023
In Monday’s massacre, however, the Celts got what they usually deserve when they shoot badly from three-point land. On the strength of 9-for-42 shooting on threes, the Celts fell to the Heat with a whimper, losing 103-84 in the mother of all buzzkills. The final score was charitable.
Asked if his team relied too much on the three, coach Joe Mazzulla remained defiant to the end.
“No,” said the coach flatly.
There might be a few folks who’d debate the coach on that point this morning.
In an attempt to make history in Game 7 at the Garden, the Celtics’ implosion would have made the Roy siblings proud. All 150 teams that had gone down 0-3 in a best-of-seven series in NBA history had failed to come back and win the series. Now you can make it 151, thanks to a no-show night of shooting by the Celts that produced an end to their season, coming up short once again for their quest for Banner 18.
This time, the Celtics could not blame the Garden fans or the atmosphere. At 8:01 p.m., a half hour before tip-off, the crowd started its first, boisterous “Let’s-Go-Celtics” chant. The hype video that spliced the Red Sox’ 2004 comeback against the New York Yankees with the Celts’ big moments in this series got the crowd even more revved up. Kevin Millar did his thing on the Jumbotron. The fans were ready to blow the roof off the Garden.
None of it mattered.
Jayson Tatum hurt his ankle on the first possession of the game (“I was just a shell of myself after that,” said Tatum) and with one of the top-10 NBA players hampered, the Celts’ other top-10 player was awful. Jaylen Brown, who famously challenged the fans in the last series against Philadelphia, committed eight turnovers in an absolutely brutal performance. He was 1-for-9 from behind the stripe and, at the start of the fourth quarter, he had more turnovers than the entire Heat team.
Brown at least owned up to the magnitude of the fur-ball he coughed up.
“Just a terrible game when my team needed me most,” said Brown, who scored a team-high 19 points but was minus-17. “My team turned to me to make plays and I came up short. I failed.”
Give full marks to Jimmy Butler (28 points), Caleb Martin (26 points) and the Heat. It was a daunting atmosphere in which to spit out what would have been a bitter pill to swallow. They stared it all down with some legendary gumption. The Heat did not just win Game 7 on the parquet, they took three out of the four games on Causeway Street, just as their South Florida ice brethren the Panthers did to the Bruins earlier this spring.
But given all that, the Heat were there for the taking. They opened the game not much better than their generous hosts. They started out shooting 2-for-11 from the floor. But Miami snapped out of it. The Celtics never did.
“I thought we were tight. I thought we played tight,” said Malcolm Brogdon, who tried and failed to play through a damaged tendon in his forearm. “We played that way at both ends of the ball. I thought Miami played the opposite. I thought they played loose. I thought they executed on the defensive end and offensively I thought they were poised. They weren’t rushed, they weren’t nervous. And I thought Jimmy did what he was supposed to do.”
No one on the Celtics did, however. They chunked it in the first half, and they never recovered. They missed their first 11 trey attempts and were 4-from-21 behind the stripe. When they were clanging it from downtown, they giving the Heat the ball. They committed seven first-half turnovers, three by Brown.
Meanwhile, Tatum (14 points) was making as little impact as possible for a superstar in this league. On the game’s first possession, he was slow to get up after rolling his left ankle after being fouled by Gabe Vincent. Tatum, who kept the Celts’ season alive with 51 points in their Game 7 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, had just seven points in the first half and missed his only three attempt.
The Celtics failed to gain any momentum coming out of the half and it was a fait accompli midway through the third quarter.
Now they’re left again to figure out what this team is missing. It is clear that something is.
Steve is in his 18th year covering the Bruins for the Herald. Prior to this beat, the lifelong Bostonian covered the Patriots during the Bill Parcells era, Boston College football during Matt Ryan's collegiate career and a plethora of schoolboy sports. He also worked a year in the news department as a general assignment reporter.
